Photocatalytic Degradation of Rhodamine B Dye by TiO2 and Gold Nanoparticles Supported on a Floating Porous Polydimethylsiloxane Sponge under Ultraviolet and Visible Light Irradiation

Seong Youl Lee; Dooho Kang; Sehee Jeong; Hoang Tung Do; Joon Heon Kim

doi:10.1021/acsomega.9b04127

Photocatalytic Degradation of Rhodamine B Dye by TiO₂ and Gold Nanoparticles Supported on a Floating Porous Polydimethylsiloxane Sponge under Ultraviolet and Visible Light Irradiation

ACS Omega. 2020 Feb 18;5(8):4233-4241. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.9b04127. eCollection 2020 Mar 3.

Authors

Seong Youl Lee¹, Dooho Kang¹, Sehee Jeong¹, Hoang Tung Do², Joon Heon Kim¹

Affiliations

¹ Advanced Photonics Research Institute, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju 61005, Republic of Korea.
² International Centre of Physics, Institute of Physics, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi 122100, Vietnam.

Abstract

A combination of plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) with semiconductor photocatalysts, called plasmonic photocatalysts, can be a good candidate for highly efficient photocatalysts using broadband solar light because it can greatly enhance overall photocatalytic efficiency by extending the working wavelength range of light from ultraviolet (UV) to visible. In particular, fixation of plasmonic photocatalysts on a floating porous substrate can have additional advantages for their recycling after water treatment. Here, we report on a floating porous plasmonic photocatalyst based on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-TiO₂-gold (Au) composite sponge, in which TiO₂ and Au NPs are simultaneously immobilized on the surface of interconnected pores in the PDMS sponge. This can be easily fabricated by a simple sugar-template method with TiO₂ NPs and in situ reduction of Au NPs by the PDMS without extra chemicals. Its ability to decompose the organic pollutant rhodamine B in water was tested under UV and visible light, respectively. The results showed highly enhanced photocatalytic activity under both UV and visible light compared to the PDMS-TiO₂ sponge and the PDMS-Au sponge. Furthermore, its recyclability was also demonstrated for multiple cycles. The simplicity of fabrication and high photocatalytic performance of our PDMS-TiO₂-Au sponge can be promising in environmental applications to treat water pollution.